Renowned neurosurgeon speaks to UTPA community

EDINBURG — Having been trained at one of the nation’s top medical schools and now working for another one, Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa said some of the greatest lessons he has learned in life have been taught to him by patients, family, friends and mentors.

“One thing is certain: Together we can be stronger,” Quiñones said.

Quiñones is an associate professor of neurosurgery and oncology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and is a leading researcher in how stem cells can be used to fight brain cancer.

On Tuesday, Quiñones delivered an address titled “Beyond the Borders of the Mind: Tertiary Care Centers in the 21st Century,” at the University of Texas-Pan American’s Fine Arts Auditorium. The talk was the second in the university’s 2009-10 Distinguished Speakers Series.

Quiñones, a native of Mexico, came to the United States illegally when he was 19 in search of a better life. He toiled as a farmworker and a welder for a railroad crew before returning to school. Quiñones attended Harvard University’s medical school, where he graduated cum laude. Since then, he has won numerous awards for his work, according to biographical information from Johns Hopkins.

But it is through his patients that he learned to embrace fear and to stay determined to tackle challenges, Quiñones said. He told two stories Tuesday of how he had to make split-second decisions on whether to operate on patients: one was a police officer who sustained severe head injuries in connection with a high-speed chase; the other was a man who was brought in with a gunshot wound so big that Quiñones could see through the man’s head. He operated on the former, who lived, and pronounced the latter brain dead because there was nothing he could do to help him.

“It is not fear that matters,” the doctor said. “It is the way that we respond to fear that matters.”

Quiñones also spoke of minorities’ limited access to oncology services and pediatric care and said more needs to be done to close the gap.

Students and members of the community waiting in line before his speech said they were inspired by Quiñones’ life story and came to hear more about how he rose from humble beginnings to become one of the nation’s leading neurosurgeons.

University students said could identify with Quiñones because of the obstacles he has overcome.

“If he can do all that and be a top neurosurgeon, I can do anything,” said Joshua Hinojosa, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major from Donna.

Robert Danso, a pre-med biology student at UTPA, said he was interested in hearing about the challenges Quiñones faced in pursuit of his goals. An international student from the West African nation of Ghana, Danso wants to become a doctor and said he identified with the guest speaker.

“I want to help my society, contribute,” the student said.

Mercedes resident Sandra Valdivia and her mother, Janie, had more personal reasons for coming to hear Quiñones speak.

“He’s related to my cousin,” Sandra Valdivia said. “He’s almost like family. I knew him when he used to wear bandanas and long hair.”

Quiñones’ appearance at UTPA coincides with the university’s International Week, which began Monday. In its ninth year, the celebration’s theme this year is “Global Health and Welfare.”

Additional luminaries scheduled to visit campus for the ongoing Distinguished Speakers Series are journalist Lisa Ling and author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Luis Alberto Urrea.

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Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.